THE CHARACTERS
RACHEL PETRIKOV: role: exodus soldier, protagonist goal: to wipe out all chimaera/hydra in particular motivation: revenge for the death of her family, a sense of purpose conflict: lack of strength, power and resources summary: heavily implied to have c-ptsd of both her father's death and her father's abuse. she has repressed the emotions behind her father's abuse and thus can't seem to get closure without killing her father's killer. it is revealed later that she had struggled with homicidal feelings towards her father throughout her life in the hopes of trying to protect her mother and sister and free the both of them and feels hydra stole that from her. thus, she recreates the memory, telling herself that 1) her mother died along with them and 2) they all had a happy life, though incorrect. her entire sense of purposes hinges on the fact that she fights, she feels she has worth only when she has the power to be just. arc summary: exploring monstrosity and self-destruction. rachel forces herself through the ends of the earth and back in her quest, only finding that her pushing herself and clinging to her past traumas causes her downfall as a human. she eventually struggles to recover both physically and mentally and get back to her original ambition, saving people. CALEB PETRIKOV aliases: cain, karin role: exodus soldier goal: to reconnect with his family and find a place in the world / the reconciliation between humanity and chimaera as a race motivation: safety for himself and his loved ones conflict: his current family, who he doesnt feel he belongs to, are advocating for the death of his species (which is awkward) summary: caleb is a chimaeran host, although an inactive one ('a catalyst'). (s)he is the daughter of the hydra, one of the most infamous and dangerous chimaera out there, and was left behind during an attack on her 'clan' and adopted by humans. despite appearing mostly human, he is constantly reminded of his otherness, that he doesn't belong, that he's a monster, and that he's just being used to cull the others of his species. he fears himself and the darkness of his kind and wants to be human like his sister, however, he also experiences a very deep dysphoria in connection to the idea of humanity and longs to escape that and just be safe and happy with his mother despite the meanings of that. his powers itself are exceedingly powerful considering his lineage, enough to bend the forces of reality, which is incredibly desirable to exodus and the millennium gate arc summary: exploring humanity and martyrdom. caleb forces himself to appear human despite the isolation and abuse everyone puts him through, repressing and dissociating from his feelings and identity constantly. however, these emotions slowly and steadily manifest subconsciously through his powers that alters the realities around him. as he is slowly pulled in and tempted by what could be, he continues to deny this and give more and more to exodus, going so far as to allow experimentation of his body and to allow his powers and self to be used as weapons. HYDRA: aliases: amara, number 01 role: one of the most wanted chimarea/antagonist (books 1-2), cult figurehead (book 3) goal: to reconnect with what's left of her clan (caleb) motivation: safety/peace conflict: her race is hated and she is constantly under attack/the millennium gate won't let her go summary: amara is the most infamous and considerably the most dangerous chimaera out there. she has been labeled the 'hydra' by exodus and the entire world is on the search for her. meanwhile, however, she is a woman so traumatized she repeatedly goes into fugue states just to deal with the trauma of her past. amara is the survivor of a violent cult called the millennium gate, whose members have snuck its way into exodus and has pushed as much influence as possible to find their missing 'goddess'. she is the direct descendent of the first chimaera, dubbed echidna, and thus the most powerful in how pure her blood works. she is also caleb's mother and the killer of rachel's father and maybe sister. arc summary: a study in acceptance. amara goes from coping and recovering to being active in how she deals with the world, to finding her place and living her life, maybe not the way she wanted to, but the way that agrees with her current state. she goes from victim, to violent survivor, to someone who reaches out to others and tries to spread that wisdom. she is the (or a) foil for rachel, who starts monsterous and finds humanity in that, and trying despite the odds NATHANIEL HYOUNG poor nate bby i wrote all those other bios in advance but i'm too lazy to continue lol anyway he works for exodus he's part of the committee he's also a victim of the millennium gate who snuck into exodus and is corrupting it from within. he has made a deal with the gate to give them the secret of evolution and ascension that they believe to be hidden within the dna of the chimaeran parasite in exchange for them sparing him from the fate that befalls all men involved in the cult. CASSANDRA CHREST pure gay baby who is so underdeveloped sorry angel. she is the victim of a failed chimaeran attack that was intercepted by rachel and caleb. she later becomes rachel's apprentice after instantly seeing the humanity that is still present within the monsterous state of the chimaera. as much as she wants a cure, she wants to build an undestanding even more and works hard to try and establish some force of sympathy for anyone and everyone she encounters. a good baby who doesnt deserve what i put her through